Boulder County has received a thorough soaking in the second half of March, but those with their eyes on groundwater and flood concerns say the situation is normal for the season and there is no cause for worry — for now.

"I think this is a relatively normal kind of pattern. It is unusual to get it all in one day like that, but to get this much precipitation in the month of March is certainly something we do see, from time to time."

Mark Powers shovels a sidewalk at on the east side of Longmont Thursday morning. (Lewis Geyer / Staff Photographer)

Boulder meteorologist Matt Kelsch said Boulder has so far registered 31.4 inches of snow this month, and 3.63 inches of liquid, in the form of rain and melted snow. All but 0.01 inches of that liquid came in two storms over a one-week period, March 17-18 and Wednesday's storm.

Nevertheless, Houck is not worried about imminent flooding, and said the landscape at this time of year can handle that drenching better than some might imagine.

"It's shocking how quickly water can infiltrate into the upper levels of the ground surface, with the snowpack vanishing and the upper levels of ground surface drying out.

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"What I mean is, if it had fallen in, say, the middle of December, it would probably be a month and half before it all melted," Houck said. "But even with a fresh coating of snow this weekend, this could be completely gone in a week or two."

Another round of snow is forecast for the Boulder County area, with rain and snow developing in the late afternoon Friday and continuing into Saturday morning, with several inches expected.

Houck doesn't expect it all will add up to anything more than a boon for landscapers and gardeners.

"What would really concern me is if a heavy rain event would fall" on the existing snow cover. "But we are too early in the year right now, for where I would expect an event like that could even possibly occur. If we had this kind of (snow) cover in late April or early May, I might give you a different answer, then. But this will be long gone, by then."

Because the heaviest snowfall in the most recent storm was concentrated at lower and mid-level elevations, Colorado's high country snowpack, which feeds water supplies well into the year, was virtually unchanged by the dump that paralyzed the Front Range urban corridor.

On Thursday, the snowpack in the South Platte River Basin, which includes Boulder County, was a robust 104 percent of its median depth for the date. The Laramie and North Platte River Basin was at 107 percent.

"One hundred and four percent is not something I would even blink an eye at," Houck said. " It usually does not get my attention until it is 20 or 30 percent above the median. And obviously, we're not there yet."

The month's infusion of moisture bodes well for another aspect of the environment.

"From a fire point of view and fire potential point of view, during the second half of February and the first half of March we were getting a little concerned, so this storm came at the right time," said Tim Matthewson, a fire meteorologist at the Bureau of Land Management's Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center in Lakewood.

"This time of year is very important in terms of getting our spring precipitation. The moisture provided by this storm helped recharge some of the soil moisture, which is going to help with spring green-up this year. Usually, in March and April this is pretty common, during El Niño years especially."

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